Above section meets with History H645 and CULS C701
TOPIC: OPPOSITION AND SURVIVAL UNDER COMMUNISM
This course will look at various ways in which forms of opposition
developed inside Eastern Europe under the repressive communist
regimes between 1945 and 1989. We will examine the extent to which
the communist governments allowed such actions as a form of
reinvigorating themselves, and what role different types of
opposition played in weakening the legitimacy of these regimes. We
will focus on some general issues, such as the role of oppositional
Marxist critiques in de-legitimizing Communist rule. Some of the
readings will deal with very specific forms of opposition, such as
religious beliefs and activism, or youth culture. The general
question that will run through the course is what forms of civil
society have been able to develop under Communism, in what shape,
and with what effects both before and after 1989. This colloquium
will be a preparation for understanding important historiographic
and theoretical issues in the field of Eastern European history. It
will also allow students to explore potential research topics.